Hospitals’ mistakes are going unreported

September 17, 2008

Two patients at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia required additional surgery last summer after objects were accidentally left inside their bodies, state health investigators found.

Three patients at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby had to be sent back to the OR last year to stop excessive postoperative bleeding.
At Abington Memorial Hospital, an elderly woman recovering from surgery for a broken hip in 2005 was left on a bedpan for at least 41/2 hours. She developed two open bedsores as a result.

None of the hospitals reported the problems, a violation of state law, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
For several years now, hospitals in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have been required to report medical mistakes and serious complications to state agencies charged with reducing medical errors. But some hospitals aren’t fully complying, undermining efforts to improve patient safety, experts say.

Read Article Philadelphia Inquirer

Posted By Phoenix Accident Injury Attorneys </a